Kevin Hoyt, Newtown’s race dominator, almost didn’t successfully defend his Newtown Road Race title, but that’s only because he came close to not running the event.

The 24-year-old Newtown resident’s late decision to not attend his Keene State College alumni race on Saturday, August 30, enabled him to lead a pack of approximately 600 runners across the finish line at the ninth annual event at Dickinson Park on a cool, cloudy morning. He finished the 5K run in a time of 16:17.

“It feels nice. It was kind of a last-minute decision to run this one this year,” said Hoyt, who also won the Mad Dash and Rooster Run, only a week apart, in June.

Coming in second was a race newcomer. Kevin Boughan, 38, who moved to Sandy Hook this past January, was runner-up in an also impressive time of 16:54.

“It was a nice race,” said Boughan, who left the Dickinson parking lot along with the other runners, went down roads near the park, and returned in 59 degree weather. “I run around here all the time so I’m used to the roads.”

The top female finisher was last year’s second-fastest in her gender category: Bethel 13-year-old Angela Saidman, who was 16th overall in a time of 19:13.

“It’s exciting,” Saidman said. “It was a really nice day because it wasn’t too hot — not too cold.”

The top ten included third-place finisher Emerson Silva, 40, of Danbury, who completed the course in 17:01. He was followed by five straight Newtown/Sandy Hook competitors, taking the fourth through eighth spots: Christopher Gamble and David Csordas, both 17 (each finishing in 17:29); Ethan Burg, 16 (17:49); Kyle Mangold, 18 (18:01); and Joe Duval, 14 (18:05). Rounding out the top ten were ninth-place runner James Pisano, 20, of Seymour (18:18) and Nick Fraticelli, 31, of Danbury (18:23).

Nike presented the 5K race and the Newtown Prevention Council sponsored this year’s Kids Run to benefit Newtown Youth & Family Services. The race began a little earlier than it had in past years, with an 8 am start.

Race Director Steve Meeker and a team of fellow hardworking volunteers — led by Rick Child, Kathleen Moseman, Bill Decker, Sheilah Krasnickas, and Chris Gardner — have put on the event year after year.

“It’s a great community event. It’s fantastic. We look forward to it every year,” said Moseman, who does logistics and operations for the race.

“We see the same runners year after year — a lot of runners I recognize, which is great,” said Child, who was in charge of registrations.

Krasnickas is in charge of food, Decker is in charge of course marshals, and Gardner runs the Kids Run.

Nike is the title sponsor and Gold Sponsors include Danbury Hospital, Praxair, Canon USA, and Ingersoll Automotive. Also new for this year is Nike microfiber T-shirts.

Complete results may be found at www.plattsys.com.